Ah, the holidays — a time for love and good cheer, for snowflakes that stay on your nose and eyelashes. For full-blown panic attacks in department stores brought on by a particularly perplexing Secret Santa pick.

Fret no more: here at NPR Books, we believe that there's a perfect book out there for everyone on your holiday shopping list. And — lucky you! — we've made it easy to sort through this year's top releases to find just the right read.

Pull up a chair, ding the bell on the counter and say hello to our Book Concierge, an interactive library of highly-recommended books from our critics and staff members. Use the clickable tags to narrow down the pile of potential gift ideas — and in case you get stuck, here are a few tag combinations for those inscrutable, impossible-to-shop-for loved ones in your life.

Your Economist-reading cousin, who thinks books are for frivolous time-wasters Eye-Opening Reads, Science & Society, Tales from Around the World